Yawping Stance
by alb925
Summary: Todd knows something's wrong when Neil leaves the theater after the play. Can he save his friends life? A slightly altered ending to the movie.


_"I'm not like you, Neil. You talk and people listen. I'm not like that._

_Don't you think you could be?"_

**-Todd and Neil**

* * *

><p>Todd shuffled his feet impatiently as he waited outside the theater with his friends and Mr. Keating. The play had been absolutely incredible. <em>Neil<em> had been absolutely incredible. Todd hadn't known just how well Neil could act. Neither had anyone else, apparently. _He's good. He's really good_, Charlie had whispered halfway through the production. It was really a shame that Neil's father didn't approve of his son's acting.

"Where _is_ he?" Charlie asked impatiently, craning his neck to see over the crowd of people. Mr. Keating had agreed that they could all wait outside for Neil to come out so that they could congratulate him.

"Give him some time, Mr. Dalton," Mr. Keating said with a laugh.

"It's _Nuwanda _now," Knox added jokingly, giving Charlie a shove. Charlie smacked him upside the head.

"Look, I think he's coming," Meeks said anxiously, gesturing towards the door, where, sure enough, Neil was making his way through the people milling outside the theater. A man was walking in front of him, doing most of the work of parting the crowd. Neil followed behind him, looking dejected. It clicked with Todd almost instantly. This man must be Neil's father.

"I thought he was away," Todd whispered to Charlie.

"I guess he managed to come back early," Charlie shrugged, dismissing the situation easily.

Todd could feel that something was wrong, but nobody else seem to think so. They were all yelling out Neil's name and trying to get his attention. If they weren't going to worry, neither was Todd. He put a smile on his face and tried to move closer to Neil to tell him how great he had been.

"Neil! Neil, over here!"

Neil saw them and even though it looked like he wanted to smile in their direction, he didn't. "I can't, guys," he said shaking his head.

The other boys wouldn't let up. They continued to yell out his name and get his attention, but Neil ignored them and followed his father to a car waiting by the curb.

Mr. Keating caught up to them in a flash and grabbed Neil's arm, the boys hot on his heels. "Neil, you were brilliant! What talent. You left even me speechless!"

Neil opened his mouth to answer, but his father butted himself between the boy and his teacher. "Stay away from my son, Keating!" he growled, before pulling Neil away and ushering him roughly into the car.

"Mr. Perry!" Charlie cried. "Mr. Perry, come on!"

"Don't make it any worse than it is," Mr. Keating said in a low voice.

Todd stared at the car as it began to pull away. Neil looked back at him and through the glass, Todd saw something in his roommates eyes that frightened him. The feeling that had been nagging him earlier returned, telling him that something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Hey, Captain, is it okay if we walk back? Captain?" Charlie's voice barely penetrated Todd's head. He finally managed to turn his head to face the two standing next to him.

Mr. Keating glanced towards Charlie and gave a slight nod. He had been staring after Neil and Mr. Perry's car as well. Charlie smiled at Todd and hit his arm twice with the back of his hand. "Come on, Todd, let's go."

Todd looked back at Charlie, glanced back in the direction Neil's car had gone, and looked back at Charlie again. "I gotta go," he said before taking off in the opposite direction. He had no idea where Neil lived, but if he could catch up to the car, he could follow it.

"Todd!" The voices of his classmates resounded behind them, but he didn't care nor bother to listen. He had to go make sure Neil would be okay. Acting meant the world to him and his father was clearly furious about it. To Neil this was more than just a hobby. To everyone else, whatever punishment was sure to come his way tonight was manageable, maybe even understandable, but for Neil, any punishment would be a death sentence.

Todd could barely make out Neil's car weaving through traffic ahead of him. Todd prayed that the next traffic light would turn red before the car reached it. No such luck. The car made it through the green light and Todd slowed to a stop, resting his hands on his knees.

A car slowed to a stop next to him and Todd glanced up. It was Mr. Keating's car. The teacher leaned over and rolled down the passenger side window at the same time the back window rolled down.

"Well, aren't you going to get in?" Mr. Keating asked.

"Come on, Todd, get a move on!" Charlie yelled, sticking his head out the window.

Without another word, Todd flung open the passenger side door and clambered into the silent car. He looked at Mr. Keating. "Something's wrong. Could you tell?"

"If I couldn't would I have picked you up just now?"

"Do you know where Neil lives?"

Mr. Keating nodded. "One of the advantages of being a teacher: having access to the records."

"And you're okay with this?" Todd asked. "His father will surely be angry."

"Okay with this? Of course I'm okay with this. Haven't you been listening to a thing I've said all year? Carpe diem, Mr. Anderson."

"If I hadn't listened, I wouldn't be doing this," Todd said quietly.

"Yeah, a few months ago, Mr. Perry would have scared the living daylights out of you," Charlie said. "He even scares me a little."

"He scares us all," Pitts added.

"You're right," Todd said, "and he still scares me, but Neil's _face_ when the car pulled away..."

"He lied to me," Mr. Keating said suddenly. "He told me his father was in Chicago-,"

"He was," Charlie said, "but he came back early I guess."

"Neil told me his father was considering letting him stay with acting. He told me he talked to his father and told him what acting meant to him."

"I don't think he did," Meeks chimed in.

"Yeah, I've figured that out, funnily enough," Mr. Keating answered with a glance in his rearview mirror.

"You know, we really shouldn't be doing this," Cameron said. "We have to be getting back to school."

"Shut up, Cameron," Charlie snapped. "Don't you care about Neil at all?"

"Nothing's wrong with Neil!" Cameron said. "So what if his dad's mad? He'll get in trouble and that will be it. It's nothing to lose sleep over! Nothing to delay getting back to school for."

"Something's wrong, Cameron," Todd muttered. "Just trust me on this, okay?"

"If Todd's acting this urgent," Knox said, "I'm going to go along with it."

The car fell back into silence as Mr. Keating wove through the streets towards Neil's house. Finally, he pulled to a stop in front of a brick house. Mr. Perry's car was parked in the driveway.

"Go ahead, Todd," Mr. Keating said with a reassuring smile. "This is all you. We'll wait. Just make sure Neil's okay."

Todd paused and took a deep breath.

"Go ahead," Mr. Keating urged. "It's time to get in yawping stance."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Todd's face. He took another deep breath before nodding, pushing the car door open and jumping out. He looked up at the house in front of him. From the looks of it, everyone had gone to bed. All of the lights were off. He thought about going to the front door, but it would surely be locked and he didn't want to knock. He didn't want to face Mr. Perry if he could avoid it. He was still a little too afraid to do that just yet. It would be so much better if he could just find a window to crawl in.

This was so unlike him that it was almost unbelievable. If his parents could see him now, they would be shaking their heads and telling him how Jeffery would never have done something like this in a million years. As if he didn't know. But he wasn't his brother. He never would be. He wasn't as smart, outgoing or popular as his brother, but if there was one thing Todd knew he could do it was being a good friend to the ones he did have. Neil had done Todd the biggest favor by bringing him out of his shell and now it was time for Todd to return that favor and convince Neil that it wasn't the end of the world that he had been caught disobeying his father. Surely something could be figured out.

Todd crept around to the back of the house, looking at the windows on the first floor. He cupped his hands around his eyes and pressed them to one of the windows. It looked like some sort of office or study from what Todd could see of the dim room, but even more importantly, Neil was sitting at the desk with his back to the window and to Todd. He wasn't wearing a shirt and he was fiddling with something on the desk in front of him. Todd craned his neck to see what it was, but with no luck. Finally, Neil held the object up and Todd could see it clearly. It was a gun.

Panicked, Todd rapped on the window. Neil jumped and spun around, dropping the gun to the desk. Todd couldn't hear him through the glass, but he saw his mouth move. "Todd?" Neil said, clearly confused. He slid the window open and rested his palms on the sill. "What are you doing here?"

"Neil, what is wrong with you?" Todd hissed. He looked from left to right. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure, why not?" Neil answered, stepping aside. Todd climbed in through the window and stood staring at his friend.

"So, aren't you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"What's going on?" Todd gestured to the weapon lying on the desk.

Neil didn't answer right away. He gazed down at the gun. "My father's pulling me out of Welton. Tomorrow. He's enrolling me in military school. After that, 'I'm going to Harvard and I'm going to become a doctor'." Neil spoke in a tone that was evident he was quoting his father.

"How angry was he?"

"He didn't even yell," Neil said with a curt laugh, "but he's disappointed in me. That's worse than yelling sometimes."

"I take it you can't act at all anymore," Todd said gently.

Neil shook his head. "How can I if I'm going to be in military school?" He finally looked up. "I can't do that, Todd. Can you imagine _me_ in a _military school_?"

If Todd tried hard enough, he probably could, but then again, he really couldn't. Neil was too energetic and passionate for that. "No," he said. "But what are you going to do about it?" He waited, and when Neil didn't answer, he plowed on. "Kill yourself? Be a coward? Because that's not the answer, Neil."

"What do you want me to do, Todd?" Neil asked, his voice rising. "I can't act anymore. I have no choice in the matter. I'm going to military school and Harvard whether I like it or not. Unless I…" he nodded his head towards the gun.

"There's a way out," Todd said. "Besides killing yourself, I mean. Talk to your father. Tell him what acting means to you. You had no problem telling me, or Charlie, or Knox or Mr. Keating…"

"My father's different. Very different."

"Maybe not so much," Todd said with a shrug.

"I almost did," Neil said. "Tell him, I mean. I almost told him tonight, but then I didn't."

"But then you didn't," Todd repeated. He looked Neil in the eye. "I guess nothing Mr. Keating had to say meant shit to you, does it, Neil?"

"You're using my own words against me," Neil said, looking at Todd with a mix of disbelief and amusement.

"You were all for this whole 'carpe diem' thing. That's what made you audition in the first place, isn't it? And you certainly did a good job of preaching it to me. Or was that acting?"

Neil actually cracked a smile, but it disappeared so quickly, Todd thought maybe he had imagined it. "No, that was real."

"Well, then why don't you believe it yourself? What happened to that excitement you had the day you ran into our room and tossed the audition flyer in my face?"

"Gone. My father made sure of that," Neil muttered.

Todd didn't answer. "Carpe diem, Neil. It doesn't mean looking for a way out when your life gets too hard. It means 'seize the day' not 'lose the day'." He shifted so that he was in front of the desk. "I'm not letting you do this."

"Oh, yeah?" Neil asked, crossing his arms and squaring his jaw.

"Yeah," Todd answered.

Neil made a quick move to the right and Todd tried to block him but Neil dodged and moved to the left, snatching the gun off the desk and holding it up to his head.

"Neil, put it down!" Todd practically yelled.

"You're not the boss of me," Neil said, looking almost hysterical. "You can't tell me what to do. I can make my own decisions just fine on my own so you can butt out, okay?"

Todd stared at him. "No."

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

"No," Todd answered firmly. He slowly held out his hand. "Drop the gun, Neil."

Neil didn't answer. The room was totally and eerily silent. Finally, Neil started to lower the gun.

_Bang!_

_Bang!_

The door was thrown open, causing the first bang, a sound that made both boys jump and for Neil to accidentally pull the trigger, leaving a bullet hole in the floor, inches from Todd's foot. Todd looked down at it, his eyes wide and his heart racing.

"Father!" Neil gasped. Todd looked up. Sure enough, Mr. Perry was standing in the doorway.

"Neil, what are you doing down here? I heard raised voices. Why do you have my gun? And who is this boy?"

"Todd…he's a-,"

"Is he an intruder? He's breaking and entering! There's no need to shoot him, but I'll have your mother call the cops."

"No!" Neil cried. "Don't call the cops. I wasn't about to shoot him. He wasn't breaking and entering. I let him in through the window. He's my roommate at school."

"Why would you let him in?" Mr. Perry asked. "You know you aren't allowed visitors after eight o'clock."

"He came on his own. He wanted to—he wanted to-,"

"I—I wanted to—to congratulate him," Todd managed to stammer out. "On his performance tonight." He said the last few words tentatively.

Sure enough, Mr. Perry's face hardened. "Well, that's kind of you, but Neil won't be acting any longer and he won't be coming back to school."

"He's told me," Todd said, a little more bravely. "But I think Neil has something he should tell you before you pull him out of school."

"He already tried to tell me something before, but he said it was _nothing._" Mr. Perry crossed his arms and looked down his nose at the boys.

"Tell him, Neil," Todd said, stepping backwards.

Neil took a deep breath. "It wasn't really 'nothing'."

"Then what?" his father asked.

Neil looked at the ground. "I love acting. I-,"

"Look at me when you speak. Unless you are aiming to speak to the ground?"

"No, sir, I'm not," Neil said, raising his eyes. "I love acting. It's what I've wanted to do my whole life."

"Your whole life," Mr. Perry repeated. "I don't recall seeing a desire to act. Until now, that is."

"I've tried bringing it up many times, but you never listened!"

"Don't take that tone with me!"

"See what I mean? Acting means the world to me and I never had the guts to defy you and go out for an audition until now. I never had the guts to do what I wanted. I managed to keep all A's in every single one of my classes because yes, education is important, but I wanted to act. I always have. I don't want to go to military school, or Harvard. I don't want to be a doctor. If I did that, I'd be miserable. The profession might be well off, but I wouldn't be happy."

"Sometimes you have to do things that don't make you happy," Mr. Perry snapped. "Do you think I _want_ to pull you out of Welton? It's one of the best preparatory schools in this area. But I do what I have to do. I never had the opportunity to go to Harvard."

"But if you did, would you have gone? If you were pressured into doing something you didn't want, would you?"

"It's not about me!"

"Yes it is! It's about what you want! It's always been about what you want, but have you ever asked me what _I_ want?"

"Acting is a whim. It will do you good to forget about it and get a good, worthwhile profession."

Neil gave a small, curt breath of laughter. "I knew you would say that. I knew it, but I can't forget about acting. I'd rather die than continue with what you have planned out for me." He slowly held up the gun.

"What—Neil—I…." For once Mr. Perry seemed at a loss for words. "If you're having these kinds of thoughts, we're going to have to get someone for you to talk to."

"No," Neil said quietly, shaking his head. "This just happened tonight. Todd somewhat talked me out of it." He looked at Todd. "I told him," he said. "What do I do now?" Todd had never seen him so vulnerable before and it was like a sudden role reversal. It terrified him, but at the same time, he felt good, knowing that he was somewhat of a comfort to Neil.

"You did what you had to do," he answered. "Now you just wait."

"Father…" Neil began. "Please, let me stay with acting."

"Who's putting these thoughts into your head?" Mr. Perry asked. "You would never have thought to disobey me like this before. Breaking my rules left and right…thinking death is the only way out. Is it Mr. Keating? I suspected there was something wrong with him right from the start."

"No, it wasn't-,"

"All of this started this year, when he began teaching. He's interfering with his student's personal lives and he has a complete disregard for rules. He's dangerous!" Mr. Perry seemed to be working himself into a fury again.

"Will you at least think about what Neil said?" Todd asked, trying to keep Mr. Perry on track.

The man paused and looked at his son. "Fine. I will think about it, but I'm not making any promises. Don't get your hopes up because I may very well decide against it. As for Welton, I won't pull you out just yet. Do you understand me?"

Neil looked at the floor before glancing at his father and nodding. "Yes, sir."

"From now on," Mr. Perry said, snatching the gun from Neil's hand, "I'm putting this in a safer place." He looked down at the hole in the floor. "Neil, the money to repair that will come from your savings." He raised his eyes to look at Todd. "I think you're through here, don't you agree?"

Todd nodded. "Uh, yes, I'll leave now, sir."

"Good. Neil, see your friend out and then get up to bed."

Neil nodded again as his dad left the room. He looked back at Todd. "Come on, I'll show you to the door."

They walked in silence and Neil pulled open the dark wooden door. Todd stepped out and saw Mr. Keating's car. They were all waiting just like they had promised. He started walking towards the vehicle, feeling shaken, but relieved.

"Todd?"

"Yeah, Neil?" Todd turned to look at his friend.

"Thanks. I owe you one."

"No," Todd said, shaking his head. "That was me repaying you."

"For what?"

"For not butting out."

Neil smiled and gave a small laugh, real this time. Todd grinned and headed back towards the car.

* * *

><p>Todd miserably sat at his desk in Mr. Keating's class. Nobody was saying a word. Mr. Keating was getting fired. Even after the student's had fought for him to stay. Neil had tried convincing his father that none of what happened was the teacher's fault, but Mr. Perry was having none of it. He threatened to revoke his decision to think about letting Neil act and stay at Welton if he said another word on the subject.<p>

In the end, Mr. Perry had gotten Mr. Nolan involved and that was the end of that. Cameron had also gone and told Mr. Nolan all about the Dead Poets Society. Charlie had finally snapped and punched Cameron, giving him a bloody nose. Mr. Nolan had expelled him the second he found out and he then threatened to expel anyone who didn't sign a contract stating what went on during meetings and that Mr. Keating put them up to it; that he had put them up to everything. Todd's parents had been there and for them, being expelled from this school wasn't an option. On the plus side, at least Neil was still in school and not at some military academy.

The classroom door opened and Mr. Nolan breezed in and quickly made his way to the desk. "I'll be teaching this class through exams. We'll find a more permanent English teacher during the break. Now, who can tell me where we are in the textbook? Mr. Anderson?"

Todd glanced up before beginning to flip through his book. "In the—in the-," he stuttered. He was feeling a mix of guilt, fear and anger, making it impossible to talk clearly.

"I can't hear you, Mr. Anderson!"

"In the—in the-," Todd continued to stutter.

"Kindly for me, Mr. Cameron," Nolan said with a slight eye roll.

"We skipped around a lot," Cameron said.

"Alright, we'll start over. What is poetry?"

There was a sudden knock on the door and Mr. Keating stuck his head in. "I came for my personals. Should I come back after class?"

"Get them now, Mr. Keating," Nolan barked.

Mr. Keating slowly made his way around the room, past Todd's desk and into the small room to the left of the chalkboard as Mr. Nolan instructed Cameron to read the textbook's introduction.

"That page has been ripped out, sir," Cameron said, not quite meeting Mr. Nolan's eyes. Todd, however, was watching Mr. Keating and didn't miss the smirk that played across the man's face.

"Well, borrow someone else's book," Nolan said impatiently.

"They've all been ripped out," Cameron said.

"Well, you can borrow mine." He marched to Cameron's desk and slammed the book down. "Read."

As Cameron began to read, Todd continued to stare at Mr. Keating. Words and sentences were running through his head. _We're not laying pipe, we're talking about poetry…the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse…are you a man or an amoeba…you must strive to find your own voice because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all…no matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world…you can't yawp sitting down. Let's go, come on, up. You gotta get in yawping stance._

Todd looked up again as Mr. Keating passed his desk on his way to the door. Once he left the room, he wouldn't be coming back. Todd had to say something and he had to say it now. He stood up. "Mr. Keating, they made everybody sign that paper, you have to believe me!"

"I do believe you, Todd," Mr. Keating said, taking a step back towards him.

"Sit down, Mr. Anderson! One more outburst from you or anybody else will lead to expulsion from this school!" Mr. Nolan yelled. He turned to Mr. Keating. "Leave, Mr. Keating." The two teachers stared at each other for a moment. Mr. Keating made no move to leave, so Mr. Nolan spoke again. "I said leave Mr. Keating."

Finally, Mr. Keating turned and headed for the door. Todd turned and watched him. Mr. Keating believed him. He knew what had really happened, but that wasn't enough for Todd. He couldn't let the best teacher he had ever had leave without knowing just how much he had changed his life. He had to get in yawping stance for Mr. Keating one last time.

Getting up out of his seat, he confidently climbed on to his seat and from there, to his desk, turning towards the door. "Oh Captain, my Captain."

Mr. Keating turned towards him, a mix of emotions etched on his face, but Todd noticed that surprise or shock were not one of them.

"Sit down Mr. Anderson!" Nolan said. "Do you hear me? Sit down!"

Todd simply ignored him.

"Oh Captain, my captain." Neil was climbing onto his desk, a small smile on his face. He turned and looked at Todd, who smiled back.

To Nolan's horror, one by one, the majority of the class climbed onto their desks and turned to face Mr. Keating.

Mr. Keating looked back at them all with an expression of joy and gratitude. "Thank you boys, thank you."

As the teacher turned to finally leave the room, Todd heard Mr. Keating's voice echo in his head once more. _Don't you forget this._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I've never done a Dead Poets Society story before, but I really wanted to give it a try so I hope everyone likes it! Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review to tell me what you think! :)**


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